The Internet can be a powerful learning
tool. However, children have been lured into a world that they are not
prepared for. Recently a lot of our children have been visiting a website
that was
promoted as a place that our kids could go, talk to their friends, post
pictures, and meet new people. Unfortunately some of the new people they
might be meeting turn out to be sexual predators. A lot of our children
are under the belief that only their "friends" have access to their
personal profiles, comments, bulletin boards, etc. This could not be
farther from the truth. Anyone who signs up at this website (Yes it is
FREE!) can lure your child into something they are not prepared for.
Sexual predators are usually male but can also be female. Talk to your
child, find out if they have visited this site and established their own
"space." Sit down and walk through their space yourself and
decide if you want your child's profile on the internet which includes their
pictures, their names, ages, school they attend, what they like, dislike, and
the list goes on and on. But be aware there are other
third-party websites that promote the same things on the internet. Our
children might not understand, but as parents it is our responsibility to
protect them from predators. A 13-year-old boy recently committed suicide because of horrific comments
made about him on the Internet and posted to one of these sites. The
police recently attended a party set up by a registered sex offender where he
portrayed himself to be a teenage boy on one of these sites that was having a
big party because his parents were out of town.

AYSO NATIONAL has determined that we should not
list these websites that our children could be victimized by because by listing
them we would be promoting them. If you have a question about the specific
sites that our children are using then please contact our Regional Commissioner,
John Meikle or our Website Manager, Michael Linder.

In addition, log on to the California
Megan's law website and see who your neighbor might really be. We
have convicted rapists living very close to our schools and parks.

DISCLAIMER:
This information was placed here as a warning since it was recently discovered
how many of our soccer families could be affected. You must judge for
yourselves if the material in the websites is suitable for your individual
family. Talk to your internet provider about blocking
websites from your machine if you choose to do so. If you find other
websites that you believe might be dangerous to our children, Email them to the WEBMASTER,
so that the website name can be posted on this page and other parents can have
the opportunity to review the site.